The New Issue is Out! (Plus, 5 Good Reasons to Pick it Up)

By Mangesh & Jason |

The new mental_floss hits newsstands today, and we can't wait for you to check it out. If you're not a subscriber, we're providing a few choice tidbits after the jump to get you excited. (By the way, you can fix that by taking advantage of one of these subscription specials right here.)

Here are a just a few of things you'll learn inside:

1. Walruses are One Man Floating Bands!

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2. Thomas Edison was The Original Subway Hero

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3. If Scooby Doo and Marmaduke are both Great Danes, why do they look so different?

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4. Ben Franklin Invented the Extension Arm?!

In his later years, Ben Franklin spent lots of time in libraries. And he invented stuff for them, too! To reach books on high shelves, he created a pole with a claw on one end and handles on the other. To this day, you can still see people using Franklin's extension arm at convenience stores and bodegas everywhere.
-From A Ridiculously Long and Incomplete List of Things that Ben Franklin Invented, p 46

5. The Man who Controlled A Bull's Mind with a Remote

In 1963, Dr. Jose Delgado stepped into a bullring in Cordova, Spain, with a 550-lb. charging bull named Lucero. The Yale University neurophysiologist was no bullfighter, but he had a plan: to control the bull's mind. Delgado was among a small group of researchers developing a new type of electroshock therapy. Here's how it worked: First, the researchers would implant tiny wires and electrodes into the skull. Then, they'd send electrical surges to different parts of the brain, sparking emotions and triggering movements in the body. The goal was to change the patient's mental state, perking up the depressed and calming the agitated. But Delgado took this science to a new level when he developed the "stimoceiver." The chip, which was about the size of a quarter, could be inserted inside a patient's head and operated by remote control. Delgado envisioned the technology eventually leading to a "psychocivilized society," in which everyone could temper their self-destructive tendencies at the press of a button.

For several years, Delgado experimented on monkeys and cats, making them yawn, fight, play, mate, and sleep—all by remote control. He was particularly interested in managing anger. In one experiment, he implanted a stimoceiver into a hostile monkey. Delgado gave the remote control to the monkey's cage mate, who quickly figured out that pressing the button calmed down his hotheaded friend.

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To read the rest of this story (where the intrepid Delgado hops into the ring with a raging bull!) be sure to pick up a copy on newsstands. Or better yet, subscribe here. Of course, these 5 stories just scratch the surface. We've got 72 pages of incredible stories and facts, from the Unbelievable Story of the Brooklyn Bridge to a Slacker's Guide to Making Millions to why Mumbai is being hailed as the City of the Future.

Make our editors happy and pick up a copy today!